Articles tagged with: Brian Finch

Brian Finch on storytelling while being out as an HIV-positive comic

Storytelling is something I discovered once I got into stand up. I had no idea that such a thing existed or I would have done it a long time ago.
Most people don’t know what it means, but it’s quite simple - people tell stories. However these are polished stories that require a great deal of thought and work in order to be good stories.
I had seen a poster for an organization saying they were having a storytelling night with positive speakers. But that was about experiential sharin

Christopher Banks on the touchy subject of making fun of AIDS

“Dom, your song was so gay I’m pretty sure I just got AIDS from listening to it.”
How does that sentence make you feel? If you were on a bus and overheard some idiot teenagers saying it, you might be angry. You might be brave enough to say something. You could be intimidated into silence. As you hear the group laugh, you may shrink down further into your seat and feel like an insect at the bottom of a sewer.
But how would you feel if you heard this broadcast on a national rad

Pride Night at Slacks June 27 & July 4th, Hosting for my first time! Come out and support.

It’s here folks! It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was preparing for last year’s Pride. How things have changed in a space of year.
I’m Jewish. I’m a comic. Gone are the activist days, and I’m so fucking happy. If I hear one more person seriously try to tell my why I have to say all the letters in LGBT…….
I will barf. This happened about two weeks ago. People, wake up! I don’t give a shit. I don’t even want to give a shit. I just want to have fun. I now shun people w

So with great honour I’m announcing that John McCullagh is effective today the publisher of PositiveLite.com

Just the other weekend I attended a workshop called “Stepping Forward into Inspired Action” facilitated by my health/life coach. The topic seemed to be in line with other discussions I had been having with others, as well as writing here on PositiveLite.com.
Sometimes in order to step forward into action, inspired or otherwise, reflection is required. I often believe everything happens for a reason, and there was a reason for why this workshop was happening on this particular day. Putti

For better or for worse, my life is always about re-invention. When I found out that I was a snake in the Chinese zodiac signs, I didn’t think that was good

For better or for worse, my life is always about re-invention. When I found out that I was a snake in the Chinese zodiac signs, I didn’t think that was good. A friend pointed out that snake can be good, a sign of shedding many skins.
My approach in life is to try new things, not knowing if I have one modicum of talent and just go for it anyway. If I didn’t do well, then at least I knew.
Even when I was stuck, I was re-inventing myself. Unfortunately they weren’t in healthy ways, but

Brian Finch interviews James Gilette about the history of AIDS Activism at the OHTN Research 2011 Conference

James Gilette discusses the big moments of HIV activism over the past 3 decades at the Ontario HIV Treatment Network 2011 Research Conference in Toronto with PositiveLite.com publisher Brian Finch.
This video was produced as part of an ongoing collaboration between the OHTN and PositiveLite.com

Publisher Brian Finch did it - got up on stage and wowed them. Here's his report.

I have been writing about my dare (doing a stand-up comedy set at a popular local open mic night) for The Stephen Lewis Foundation and the angst it was causing me.
From the moment I booked the night (a big thank you to Jo-anna Downey for putting me on so quickly when she has 200 requests from comics in her email account), I felt a horrible sense of anxiety. “What have I done?
For the last month every time I thought of getting up on th

The Dare Campaign features individuals or teams taking on a dare to raise money for AIDS in Africa. Guess what mine is?

It all started out innocently enough - one email from the communications woman (hi Lauryn!) at The Stephen Lewis Foundation asking if I could do something to help out with their fundraising “Dare Campaign.”
How it works is that someone dares you to do something, and then, based on that dare the individual gets people to sponsor him or her.
I probably don’t have to say much more to get everyone’s imagination going. And no - I’m not going to strip or do something naked as a few